The Council
The Council represents the highest respect and authoritative power in the Hive Clan, those that oversee the Hive and act to maintain and change its ways so that the Clan may survive and prosper. Unlike other groups of special ranks (Bulwark of the Royals, Hivebloods, Mixblood Elites), the Council overall contains the 3 highest special ranks: the revered true and bonus Empresses, the sector-leading Monarchs, and the singular supreme Matriarch. The Monarchs and Matriarch furthermore make up the Hive's High Council. In number, the Council is mostly made up of the Empresses, each sector of the Hive containing six positions for each (on top of the additional slots created by bonus Empresses). The true Empresses are those member which have successfully completed the Council round. Bonus Empresses are those who automatically became Empresses from the Empress failsafe, which occurs with previous Matriarchs of the Hive. Council members will all know a decent portion of the Hive's history, for this knowledge is required to do a Council round. Additionally, Empresses and Monarchs (if necessary) will be taught in the best moves that the Matriarch knows, personally trained by the Matriarch himself (perhaps even to the extent of apprenticeship as an Ichor Scion). Only Queens of the Bulwark have this opportunity out of the Hive's members. All members of the Council are above the naturally-ranked Hive members, as well as the 3 other special ranks -- Deacons, Queens, and Kings. Empresses are the highest of the more common subleaders (Empresses, Queens, Deacons, Kings) found in the Hive's sectors, only subordinate to Monarchs and the Matriarch. Monarchs are the appointed single leaders that have near-sumpreme authority over their assigned sector(s), making them almost pseudo-Matriarchs, rare throughout the Clan (as only one can be found per sector). The Matriarch is the one-and-only leader of the Hive as a whole, above all of the other ranks, natural and special. Although the number of Empresses per sector is technically supposed to be 6, the total number of Empresses in the Hive may increase if a prior Matriarch utilizes the Empress Failsafe. Empresses can also host any Hive event, other than elite special rounds (unless in Temporary Matriarch position) and Hive Trials (even though they are likely required to begin one). Like other groups, the first people to fill the Council receive the available positions. The only way to get in the Council after the "true" positions have been filled is if a current member quits, which leaves one opening, or by usurpation by Omega round. If an Empress quits his position, he will be given an automatic Hiveblood Bull Alien (prestige 3, rank 8) rank. If a previous Council member wants to return to their rank, then they must pass a revised Council round, and only if a position is open. The revised Council round is exactly the same as the original, except one persecution is removed, leaving only one persecution during the round. Unfortunately for Empresses, they are the Hive's most loyal members to the Matriarch, meaning they -- above all other special ranks -- must definitely adhere to the Oath they take upon becoming their rank. The Empresses thusly cannot do any part of the Matriarch Road. Even though the Empresses cannot become Matriarchs, they are still very high in rank, and are categorized together with the Matriarch and Monarchs in the Council. They are relatively high amongst the other 5 special ranks, above Queens, Kings, and Deacons, and are expected to be treated as such. Backups If the Matriarch should be absent for any extended duration of time (denoted as 2 or more weeks), a Council member may be selected to be or may take up the responsibility the temporary Matriarch. The reevalutaion of Monarch rule during sdrbuck234's reign has downplayed the necessity of this, as typically a Monarch should be able to take on the necessary aspects to run a sector with or without a Matriarch present. This means if a Matriarch is gone for this extended time, Monarchs of each sector essentially take on their pseudo-Matriarch capabilities that they automatically possess. If the Monarchs are not available as well, though, an Empress may take on the responsibility of temporary Matriarch of one or multiple sectors (thus simultaneously acting as one or more Monarchs as well). In this position, the Empress(es) in question can (on top of their normal abilities) host elite special rounds, suspend Hive members, and create Hive Trials for that sector or sectors. They cannot, however, exile Hive members or host the Matriarch Road on behalf of the true Matriarch. These are the viable Empresses that can be temporary Matriarchs if no higher Council member is available: *numnutsforever *Lotusofthesand *dragonsrule4444 With this, a Queen will also be given a temporary Empress position to fill in for that now heightened Empress, as all active Council members and their positions are recommended to be filled in some way. This Queen holds temporary authority and abilities of an Empress. Temporary Empresses become necessary in periods a temporary Matriarch is needed, as an Empress is needed to act as Matriarch and a Queen to act as that Empress. These are the current temporary Empress options: *Bibi1005 *UnstableXeno *MaxDeadBear *MULTIPLAYER1999 During the Hive Recession of 2013, the temporary Empresses alice_170, MULTIPLAYER1999, and Dark_Lycan108 helped keep the Hive in order. Consistency and Council Acceptance Due to the Cross-Integration Rule, all Empresses of the Council (true and bonus) retain their authority across all sectors of the Hive in all consoles. This consistency also refers to Council members keeping up-to-date on basic Hive history. For Monarchs, however, their authority does not remain consistent. Within their own sector of leadership, a Monarch retains their pseudo-Matriarch authorities and abilities; however, on another game or console outside of their set jurisdiction by the Matriarch, a Monarch is only Empress-level in authority and ability. A Monarch outside of their home sector is then subject to the authorities of that sector's Monarch. The Matriarch, as Clan leader, retains their supreme authority over all other ranks in all sectors of the Hive. One custom of the Council is Council Acceptance in the Matriarch Road (and Sector Acceptance in the Monarch Road). Upon completing a Matriarch round, that new rising Matriarch must get accepted by the Council. To do the Council Acceptance, the challenger must be killed once by each of the Council members, to confirm the Council's main loyalty is now to the new Matriarch. If over half of the Council disagrees with the new Matriarch, then the challenger must either step down and let the old Matriarch retain control, or they must take the Superiority round, to further prove themselves worthy of their new title (thus the challenger better hope the Council accepts them as their new leader). When a Monarch is beaten in a Monarch round, the challenger must undergo Sector Acceptance, which is essentially the same as Council Acceptance for a rising Monarch. If half of the Council does not accept the challenger here, however, the challenger has no choice but to step down; there is no Superiority round for the Monarch Road as there is for the Matriarch Road. High Council The High Council of the Hive refers to the Matriarch and the sector-leading Monarchs, the highest of high ranks in the Clan. The following are the members of the Hive High Council, as well as their respective sector leaderships: *sdrbuck234 (Matriarch) *italian-stal (Playstation 3/''Aliens vs Predator''/''Aliens: Colonial Marines'' sectors) *trajectory989 (Xbox360/''Aliens vs Predator'' sector) Playstation 3 Sector These are the specific members of the Council that are found in the PS3 sector (encompassing AvP and ACM) of the Hive. Currently, the PS3 sector is on the Third Council of Empresses, and thus the Council each Empress belongs to is shown is shown (○ = First Council; □ = Second Council; ◇ = Third Council). #italian-stal (Sector Monarch) #MILLERDUO ○ (previously) #chaosshadow18 ○ (previously) #alice_170 ○ (previously) #BadassOfDOD ○ (exiled) #mad_hatter_968 ○ #DEATHHOUNDS37 ○ #philip13_ □ (previously) #dinoshark2000 □ (exiled) #pet-shop980 □ (exiled) #LydiaTheX3noGirl □(previously) #Lotusofthesand □ #untimentcreeper ◇ (previously) #piz420 ◇ #ana2003sa ◇ #UnstableXeno ◇ (previously) #CHAKRAMMblade (Empress Failsafe) #DARKWOLFPHOENIX (Empress Failsafe) #dragonsrule4444 (Empress Failsafe) Xbox360 Sector (X-Council) The Xbox360 Council is not nearly the size or prestige of its PS3 counterpart, but has still managed to gain some reputable members throughout the years. Created after the original Council on PS3, the Empresses on Xbox360 have been nicknamed the "X-Council." #trajectory989 (Sector Monarch) #Cipher74 #HMC Calcutta02 (previously) #BloodyGammaWolf (previously) #none Warframe Sector These are the Empresses and Monarch of the rising Warframe sector on Playstation 4: #Lotusofthesand (Sector Monarch) #forruner4